Edu-Arctic

Mystery of glaciers

''Mystery of glaciers', organized on Wednesdays, 11:00 UTC, cover all information about how glaciers are formed, their importance and dynamics. Learn all about glaciers, their mass balance and secret interiors. Take a closer look at future of permafrost, observe glacial landforms and hydrological processes.

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Lesson instructor

Julian Podgórski

Glaciers and glaciations: introduction

Glaciers are a dynamic body of ice that, together with ice sheets (their enormous, continent-spanning relatives), represent a significant portion of Earth's water. How are they formed? What do they look like? Where can we see them? Learn all the basics about glaciers.

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Lesson instructor

Tomasz Wawrzyniak

Mass balance of glaciers

This lessons helps to understand glaciology and its methods, including calculation glacier mass balance. The update mass-balance definitions and terminologies will be supported with photographs of glaciers and glacial landforms from Svalbard, the Alps, Alaska, the Andes and Patagonia taken by the lecturer.

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Lesson instructor

Tomasz Wawrzyniak

Glacier processes and landforms

Glacier mass movement is one of the most powerful forces shaping the Earth's surface. Under the weight of accumulating ice and snow, the glacial ice is deformed and begins to move. Glacial ice movement together with the transported material destroy the bedrock, erode slopes of valleys, reshape existing landforms, move and accumulate material on sides, at the bottom, and in the forehead of glaciers. During this lecture, students will learn about glacial landforms and processes, including erosion, transportation, deposition, and weathering.

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Lesson instructor

Tomasz Wawrzyniak

Arctic hydrology: Where does the water go?

Water in the Arctic that either fell as rain or melted from snow and ice, flows via different paths before reaching the ocean. Runoff regime and hydrological processes shape the landscape and influence dynamics of glaciers. Glaciers have complicated drainage systems - meltwater can flow on the surface of glacier, in tunnels or drain to the glacier base. The flow of water in rivers in the Arctic has a seasonal character. During late autumn, winter and early spring rivers freeze. Groundwater movement is limited, cause frozen soil is impermeable.

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Lesson instructor

Piotr Głowacki

The mystery of glaciers’ interior

Can ice be warm? How fast can the glaciers move? Can water flow between ice crystals? These and other questions will be answered by a glaciologist Prof. Piotr Głowacki, a longtime manager of the Polish Polar Station Hornsund.

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Version lg wawrzyniak tomasz frozen ground

Lesson instructor

Tomasz Wawrzyniak

Frozen ground

Permafrost and the active layer are crucial factors for all land ecosystems on Svalbard. Changes of ground temperatures have an impact on groundwater flow, hydrological cycles, periglacial processes and geomorphological landforms, vegetation, as well as fauna and linkages between them. This lessons will help to understand permafrost related processes.